Built for coal, Mingo County, West Virginia, now gets more from benefit checks than from paychecks
Mingo County is the 2nd most distressed of West Virginia's 55 counties on the County Distress Index, which we publish. The index uses data through Aug 2026. Mingo's score of 96 means it is more distressed than 96% of U.S. counties. What sets Mingo apart is where its money comes from: every year from 2015 through 2024, benefit checks brought in more than paychecks.
The railroad brought commercial coal mining here in 1890, and the county's population peaked at 47,409 in the 1950 Census; the 2020 Census counted 23,568, about half as many people.
Edition October 2026 · Next edition expected March 2027
Matewan, on the Tug Fork, is where miners and company detectives fought in May 1920. We open here because coal is the story of Mingo County.
Downtown Matewan, on the Tug Fork. Miners and company detectives fought here in May 1920, and its historic district is now a National Historic Landmark.
Photo: FloNight (Sydney Poore) and Russell Poore via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Fact: e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia, "Matewan Massacre"
More distressed than 96% of U.S. counties.
What drives Mingo County's score
The County Distress Index scores every U.S. county on five parts of household money trouble: jobs, late payments on loans, income and the safety net, collections and bankruptcy, and housing costs.
Jobs score highest
Jobs is the part where Mingo County looks most troubled. The Census Bureau's survey for 2020 to 2024 found 50.3% of adults aged 25 to 54 not working, and the county's unemployment rate averaged 7.3% from Sep 2025 to Aug 2026.
Poor health may help explain why so many adults aren't working
The Census Bureau's survey also found that 31.9% of Mingo County residents reported a disability, a share that ranked 1st in West Virginia. Only 6.8% of residents had no health insurance, a smaller share than in most U.S. counties.
Supplemental Security Income is a federal payment for people with little income who are disabled, blind or 65 and older. In December 2024, 95.2 of every 1,000 Mingo County residents got that payment, the 13th highest rate of 3,087 U.S. counties, by the Social Security Administration's count.
Life expectancy at birth was 65.8 years for 2020 to 2022, against 73.1 in the typical West Virginia county, County Health Rankings & Roadmaps reports.
We think poor health may keep some adults from working. The cause may also run the other way: when jobs disappear, more people with health problems may apply for disability benefits. Our figures can't show which explanation is right.
Late payments score second highest
In August 2025, 13.1% of people with a car or retail loan were behind on payments.
Collections run high; bankruptcy is about average
Among people with a credit record, 38.7% had unpaid debt sent to a collector. Bankruptcy filings, though, were about average for a U.S. county: 118.1 per 100,000 people in 2025.
Housing costs score lowest
Housing is the part where Mingo County looks least troubled. Rent on a two-bedroom home equals 26.6% of the county's median income, which is high for a U.S. county. Still, only 16.1% of renters pay half their income or more in rent.
Energy bills take a large share of income
One cost the score leaves out weighs on budgets here: energy. In the U.S. Department of Energy's LEAD Tool estimates for 2022 (built on the Census Bureau's 2018 to 2022 survey), the average Mingo County household spent 5.2% of its income on home energy, the 2nd highest share in West Virginia. The yearly bill itself, $2,777, was close to the typical U.S. county's $2,648. The share is high because incomes are low, not because bills are large.
A longer bar means more trouble. See how the county score works.
- 98.7 of 100
Jobs
Biggest factorAdults not working, 2020–24 Census survey; unemployment through Aug 2026
- Adults 25 to 54 not working50.3% · 2020 to 202499th percentile
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year7.3% · Sep 2025 to Aug 202697th percentile
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- 93.8 of 100
Late payments
Credit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a car or retail loan behind13.1% · August 202597th percentile
- People with a credit card behind8.7% · August 202589th percentile
- People with a subprime credit score58.5% · second quarter of 202694th percentile
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- 86.0 of 100
Income and safety net
Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- Children below the poverty line33.7% · 202495th percentile
- People with a disability31.9% · 2020 to 202499th percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$43,289 · 202498th percentile
- People below the poverty line25.7% · 202496th percentile
- People without health insurance6.8% · 2020 to 202440th percentile
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- 69.2 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Credit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector38.7% · August 202592nd percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people118.1 · 202545th percentile
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- 63.8 of 100
Housing costs
HUD's fair market rents, fiscal year 2027; renters, 2020–24 Census survey
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income26.6% · fiscal year 202789th percentile
- Renters paying half their income or more in rent16.1% · 2020 to 202437th percentile
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Sources: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Fair Market Rents and U.S. Census Bureau income; Census Bureau, American Community Survey; Urban Institute, Debt in America; Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Table F-5A; Equifax via the St. Louis Fed; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics; Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates. County Distress Index by American Default Research, from data through Aug 2026.
What Mingo County is known for
The scores show where Mingo County stands now. Its history shows how it got here, as a county the railroad built for coal.
Mingo became West Virginia’s youngest county
Mingo is West Virginia's youngest county. The state carved it from the southern part of Logan County on January 30, 1895, five years after the Norfolk and Western Railway arrived and commercial coal mining began. Williamson, where the railroad built a major rail yard, became the county seat. e-WV: Mingo County
The Hatfield–McCoy feud reached the Tug Fork
The Hatfield–McCoy feud of the 1880s played out along the Tug Fork, the river that is Mingo's border with Kentucky. Most of the Hatfields lived in what became Mingo County, and the McCoys lived mostly across the river in Pike County, Kentucky. The Battle of Grapevine Creek, near present-day Matewan, was fought on January 19, 1888. The West Virginia Encyclopedia counts 13 people killed in the feud. e-WV: The Hatfield-McCoy Feud · e-WV: Mingo County
The Mine Wars gave Mingo its bloody nickname
The county's nickname comes from the Mine Wars. In 1920, about 3,000 miners along the West Virginia–Kentucky line joined the union, and the coal companies fired them for it. Hundreds of people also had to leave their homes, because the companies owned the homes too. e-WV: Matewan Massacre · e-WV: The Mine Wars
On May 19, 1920, Baldwin-Felts detectives sent to evict striking families got into a gunfight in Matewan with the town's police chief, Sid Hatfield, and townspeople. Ten people died, the mayor among them. After the Matewan gunfight, the West Virginia Encyclopedia says, the nation knew the county as "Bloody Mingo." e-WV: Matewan Massacre · e-WV: The Mine Wars
Fewer miners, then less coal
Coal mining stayed in Mingo County, but the mines needed fewer people. The county's population peaked in 1950. Apart from a rise in the 1970s, it has fallen in every census since. The encyclopedia ties the population loss to machines in the mines and to the railroad's switch from coal-fired steam engines to diesel, among other causes. e-WV: Mingo County
Coal output also fell sharply: from 2008 to 2015, it fell 65% in Boone, Logan and Mingo counties together, the U.S. Interior Department reported. U.S. Department of the Interior: Boone, Logan, and Mingo Counties case study
Floods destroyed homes along the Tug Fork in 1977 and 1984
Floods hit the towns along the Tug Fork. For three days in April 1977, heavy rain pushed the Tug Fork over its banks, and the Army Corps of Engineers counted 600 homes destroyed in a few hours across the valley, in West Virginia and Kentucky. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Flood Proofing Technology in the Tug Fork Valley (1994)
Another flood followed in May 1984. Together the two floods took many homes and ended many businesses in Williamson, Matewan, Kermit and Gilbert. Floodwalls went up at Williamson in 1991 and at Matewan in 1996. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Flood Proofing Technology in the Tug Fork Valley (1994) · e-WV: Mingo County
Millions of opioids shipped to small-town pharmacies
Next came the opioid shipments. From 2006 to 2016, drug distributors shipped opioids by the millions to two pharmacies in Williamson, about four blocks apart. A House Energy and Commerce Committee report summed it up in December 2018: "Over 10 years, 20.8 million opioids were shipped to pharmacies in the town of Williamson, home to approximately 3,000 people." House Energy and Commerce Committee: Red Flags and Warning Signs Ignored (2018)
By our arithmetic, 20.8 million opioids works out to about 6,500 for each of the 3,191 people the 2010 Census counted in Williamson. The House report also found another nearly 9 million opioids sent in two years to one pharmacy in Kermit, which it described as a town of 406. House Energy and Commerce Committee: Red Flags and Warning Signs Ignored (2018)
Mingo wasn't the only place. At a May 2018 House hearing, the subcommittee chairman said one pharmacy in Mount Gay-Shamrock, a Logan County town he gave as 1,779 people, got more than 16.5 million pills over the same decade as the Williamson shipments. House Energy and Commerce Committee: hearing transcript, May 8, 2018
The Hatfield and McCoy families feuded across the Tug Fork in the 1880s. This mural on Matewan's floodwall shows them, part of the county's history below.
A mural on the Matewan floodwall shows the Hatfield and McCoy families, who feuded across the Tug Fork in the 1880s.
Photo: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers via Wikimedia Commons, public domain · Fact: e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia, "The Hatfield-McCoy Feud"
Key dates
These are other events in Mingo County's history that the story above does not cover.
1997
Matewan's downtown was named a National Historic Landmark district on February 18. e-WV: Matewan Massacre
1999
A wildfire in November 1999 killed one person. NOAA Storm Events Database
2004
A flash flood in May 2004 did $9 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2009
A flood in May 2009 did $24 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2015
The West Virginia Mine Wars Museum opened in Matewan. e-WV: Matewan Massacre
2025
A flood in February 2025 did $5 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
Where the money in Mingo County comes from
Today, benefit checks bring Mingo County more money than paychecks do.
Benefit checks are Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid paid on people's behalf, veterans' benefits, and food and income support, so a high share usually means an older population, low pay, or both.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Mingo County
West Virginia
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
Benefit checks passed pay in 2015, during the coal bust. The number of jobs located in the county fell from 6,331 in 2014 to 4,951 in 2024, by the Bureau of Labor Statistics' count of jobs covered by unemployment insurance. In the chart below, watch the benefit-check bars catch up with pay and then pass it.
In Mingo County, benefit checks brought in more than pay from work in 2024, a bigger share of income than across West Virginia
In Mingo County, West Virginia, benefit checks' share of income doubled from 1969 to 2024, reaching 46.1%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.
- Benefit checks
- Pay from work
The benefit share peaked in 2021, at 56 cents of the dollar. The Bureau of Economic Analysis counts the federal pandemic relief payments of 2020 and 2021 as benefit income.
The coal bust and the rise in benefit checks line up in time, but timing alone doesn't show that one caused the other. The County Distress Index shows how Mingo compares with other counties, not why.
Two more things to keep in mind. Many people have moved away, so today's numbers describe the people who stayed. And when paychecks shrink, the benefit share goes up even if no one gets a new check.
Age doesn't explain the benefit share. In the Census Bureau's survey for 2020 to 2024, 21.9% of Mingo County's residents were 65 or older, below the 22.6% in the typical West Virginia county. Ranked from oldest to youngest by the share of residents 65 or older, Mingo was tied for 36th of the state's 55 counties. Yet its share of income from benefit checks in 2024 was the 3rd highest in West Virginia.
What kinds of benefits make up Mingo County's benefit income? The latest year the Bureau of Economic Analysis splits benefit income by type is 2022. That year, 42 cents of every benefit dollar in Mingo County went to health care: 23 cents through Medicare and 19 through Medicaid and other public medical care. Most of the health care money is paid to doctors, hospitals and other providers, but the bureau counts it as residents' income.
In 2022, Social Security brought 31 cents of every benefit dollar. Income-support programs such as Supplemental Security Income, the Earned Income Tax Credit and SNAP brought 15 cents, and veterans' benefits brought 4. Unemployment insurance brought less than one cent. Because Medicaid is such a large part of the county's benefit income, the new Medicaid work rule, listed under What to watch, could matter here.
The share of households in Mingo County getting SNAP food aid had its largest rise, from 24.0% in 2013 to 26.5% in 2014.
The share of households in Mingo County getting SNAP food aid doubled from 2009 to 2024, reaching 36.5%, with no dip in any year shown
Smallest rise: 2021 to 2022, reaching 34.3%. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Mingo County, West Virginia.
The Coal House in Williamson, the county seat, was built of coal in 1933. It stands for the industry that paid the county, the pay this section follows as benefit checks take its place.
The Coal House in Williamson, the county seat, was built in 1933 from 65 tons of coal, the idea of the Norfolk & Western Railway's superintendent of fuel mines.
Photo: Badagnani at en.wikipedia via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fact: e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia, "Williamson Coal House"
What changed in Mingo County in the past year
Local news from the past 12 months covers school meals, water and ambulance service, SNAP rules that affect household money, and a winter storm declaration for local governments rather than households.
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August 18, 2026
Free school meals continue for every Mingo student
All nine Mingo County schools will serve breakfast and lunch at no cost this school year, the fourth year the district has used the federal Community Eligibility Provision. The district expects to feed nearly 3,350 students a day, The Mountain Citizen reported.
Source: The Mountain Citizen, "Mingo students to receive free meals"
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June 22, 2026
A court stops West Virginia's ban on buying soda with SNAP
Federal officials had approved the state's request to bar soda from SNAP purchases starting January 1, 2026. On June 22, a federal court in Washington, D.C., set aside that approval and ordered that the ban may not proceed.
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February 23, 2026
A broken water main puts most of the county on a boil-water advisory
Rising river water forced the public service district to move its intake pump, and then a 14-inch main between the Naugatuck plant and Lenore washed out and ruptured. Most customers had to boil their water, The Mountain Citizen reported.
Source: The Mountain Citizen, "Mingo County PSD falters after Lenore water main rupture"
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February 13, 2026
Mine-land grants for water and sewer projects, including Kermit's tank
The governor announced $9.5 million in Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization grants for five water and sewer projects in Mingo and McDowell counties. One grant, $1.26 million, replaces Kermit's leaking 110,000-gallon water tank with a 125,000-gallon one, The Mountain Citizen reported.
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February 6, 2026
One of the county's two ambulance companies pulls out
Patriot EMS removed its trucks from Mingo County without notice; county officials said Patriot had been averaging 2.1 calls a day, against the six or more it needed. STAT Ambulance stays, with five stations and seven ambulances on a typical day, The Mountain Citizen reported.
Source: The Mountain Citizen, "Mingo County officials react to Patriot EMS abrupt exit"
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January 24, 2026
A federal emergency declaration for the winter storm covers Mingo
FEMA's emergency declaration for the severe winter storm that began January 23 lists Mingo County for public assistance, which helps local governments rather than households.
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November 1, 2025
Stricter SNAP work rules take effect across West Virginia
Under the 2025 federal law known as H.R. 1, more SNAP recipients must meet a 20-hour-a-week work requirement. West Virginia Public Broadcasting reported that the change would affect about 36,000 of the close to 300,000 West Virginians on SNAP.
How Mingo County has changed
Mingo County's population had its largest drop, from 37,926 in 1984 to 34,190 in 1989.
Mingo County's population was at its highest on the chart in 1984 and is down 43% since
High on the chart: 37,926 in 1984. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Mingo County, West Virginia.
The number of jobs located in Mingo County had its largest drop, from 8,267 in 2010 to 5,563 in 2015.
The number of jobs located in Mingo County fell by about half from 1990 to 2024, reaching 4,951, with its low point on the chart in 2020
Low on the chart: 4,271 in 2020. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2024, Mingo County, West Virginia.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics' count for 2025 shows 4,466 jobs located in the county. Pay per job averaged $53,788 in 2025, down from $60,807 in 2024. In the typical West Virginia county, pay per job rose 3.2%.
One possible reason: pay per job can fall when higher-paid jobs leave, even if no one's pay is cut. The bureau's 2025 county figures by industry show that mining lost more jobs than any other industry.
The unemployment rate fell from 11.1% in 1990 to 6.5% in 2025, but that doesn't mean more people are working: the rate counts only people looking for a job, and the county's labor force shrank from 10,605 in 1992 to 6,799 in 2025.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 11.1% | 2025 6.5% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 26.3% | 2024 25.7% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $19,775 | 2024 $43,289 |
The table uses the Bureau of Labor Statistics' 6.5% average for 2025, while the score uses its 7.3% average for Sep 2025 to Aug 2026; neither includes October 2025, when the federal shutdown prevented collection.
Mingo County beside its neighbors
Mingo and Buchanan County, Virginia, score highest of the nine counties in the table; every other neighbor scores lower, with Wayne County, West Virginia, farthest behind.
The eight bordering counties are Buchanan in Virginia; Martin and Pike in Kentucky; and McDowell, Wyoming, Logan, Lincoln and Wayne in West Virginia.
Mingo doesn't top the table on poverty or benefit checks, though. McDowell County, West Virginia, and Martin County, Kentucky, both have higher poverty rates and get bigger shares of their income from benefit checks.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mingo County, WV | 96 | 25.7% | 46.1% |
| Buchanan County, VA | 96 | 23.5% | 44.5% |
| Martin County, KY | 95 | 33.8% | 60.9% |
| Pike County, KY | 95 | 22.4% | 44.9% |
| McDowell County, WV | 95 | 38.4% | 52.2% |
| Wyoming County, WV | 93 | 24.8% | 42.0% |
| Logan County, WV | 91 | 21.1% | 42.4% |
| Lincoln County, WV | 89 | 21.4% | 36.9% |
| Wayne County, WV | 75 | 14.9% | 30.9% |
Distress score: American Default Research, County Distress Index, data through Aug 2026; each county scored against all 3,144. Poverty rate: Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates, 2024. Benefit checks: Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2024. Neighbors share a border, from Census county maps.
Is Mingo County the poorest county in West Virginia?
No. Mingo County had the 3rd highest poverty rate of West Virginia's 55 counties in 2024, at 25.7%, by the Census Bureau's Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates. McDowell County had the highest. The County Distress Index looks at more than poverty, and on the index Mingo ranks 2nd in the state.
What to watch before the next edition
Scheduled dates between now and the next edition, nearest first.
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December 2, 2026
The 2025 county income figures are due
The Bureau of Economic Analysis releases personal income by county for 2025. The release will show whether benefit checks still brought in more than pay in Mingo County that year.
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December 2026
Medicaid applicants may have to show work hours
People who apply in December 2026 for Medicaid coverage that starts in January 2027 may already have to meet the new work or activity requirement, West Virginia says.
Source: West Virginia Bureau for Medical Services, "New Medicaid Rules Are Coming"
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January 1, 2027
Medicaid work rules start
Some Medicaid members aged 19 to 64 must log at least 80 hours a month of work or approved activities unless they are exempt. Current members are checked at their regular 2027 renewal, starting with renewals due in March.
Source: West Virginia Bureau for Medical Services, "New Medicaid Rules Are Coming"
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January 13, 2027
The Legislature's 2027 session opens
The state constitution sets the regular session to begin on the second Wednesday of January and last up to 60 days. The governor's budget is due the same day.
Questions about Mingo County, West Virginia
Where is Mingo County, and what is its county seat?
Mingo County is in southern West Virginia, on the Tug Fork, the river that forms the Kentucky line, between McDowell and Wayne counties. Its county seat is Williamson. Other towns include Matewan, Delbarton, Gilbert and Kermit (e-WV, the West Virginia Encyclopedia).
If you're behind on your mortgage in Mingo County
Housing counselors approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development work at nonprofit agencies. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau describes free foreclosure-avoidance counseling, including help with mortgage-company conversations and available options Source CFPB.
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Housing Authority of Mingo County
HUD-approved housing counselor
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Legal Aid of West Virginia
Legal aid
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Mountain State Justice, Inc.
Legal aid
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HUD-approved housing counselors
Our help directory lists 1,010 agencies approved for foreclosure counseling, by state.
The score, its 14 measures and their sources, in one file. Free to use with credit to American Default Research.
Sources and method
We gather the data, run the numbers and research each county ourselves. We write with AI tools, and Ross Kilburn checks and reviews every page before it's published. This edition: October 2026 · Next edition expected March 2027. Method: Figures are as each agency published them, not adjusted for prices.
What this page relies on (30 sources)
- American Default Research · County Distress Index Data through Aug 2026, built from HUD Fair Market Rents and Census income; Census Bureau, American Community Survey; Urban Institute, Debt in America; U.S. Courts, Table F-5A; Equifax via the St. Louis Fed; Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics; Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates. The County Distress Index is American Default Research's own calculation; the Urban Institute does not produce or endorse it. Our methodology
- Urban Institute · Debt in America Breno Braga, Signe-Mary McKernan, Samantha Atherton, and Kassandra Martinchek, "Debt in America," last updated November 20, 2025, https://datacatalog.urban.org/dataset/debt-america-2025. Licensed under ODC-By 1.0.
- Rent on a two-bedroom and household income The rent share compares HUD fair market rent for fiscal year 2027 with Census Bureau median household income for 2024. The page calls this the typical household's income.
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Economic Accounts (CAINC4) · income shares Where the money in Mingo County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.
- Mingo County
- The Hatfield-McCoy Feud
- Matewan Massacre
- The Mine Wars
- Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990, West Virginia
- Boone, Logan, and Mingo Counties, West Virginia (case study)
- Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, Mingo County
- Flood Proofing Technology in the Tug Fork Valley (1994)
- Red Flags and Warning Signs Ignored: Opioid Distribution and Enforcement Concerns in West Virginia (December 19, 2018)
- Combating the Opioid Epidemic: Examining Concerns About Distribution and Diversion, hearing transcript (May 8, 2018)
- Mingo students to receive free meals (August 18, 2026)
- West Virginia SNAP Food Restriction Waiver
- Mingo County PSD falters after Lenore water main rupture (February 23, 2026)
- Kermit water tank replacement funded in $9.5 million AMLER grant announcement (February 13, 2026)
- Mingo County officials react to Patriot EMS abrupt exit (February 18, 2026)
- West Virginia Severe Winter Storm (EM-3639)
- Federally Mandated Changes To SNAP Work Requirements Go Into Effect (November 3, 2025)
- Release schedule: GDP by County and Personal Income by County, 2025
- New Medicaid Rules Are Coming
- West Virginia Constitution, Article VI
- SSI Recipients by State and County, 2024
- County Health Rankings, 2025 release
- Low-Income Energy Affordability Data (LEAD) Tool, 2022
- Personal Current Transfer Receipts by county (CAINC35), 2022
- Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, Mingo County, 2025
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Thanks, that helps.